California salmon in dire peril
Old River – During a typical northern spring, the silver young salmon swimming in long tanks at the Nimbus fish hatchery east of Sacramento would be released into the American River and then make their way out to the Pacific Ocean to grow to adulthood.
But with extreme drought now gripping California and much of West Coast, the rivers are too warm for the salmon to survive.
This week, the 90mm smolts, as the young fish are known, embarked on a much different journey, when they were loaded on to trucks and driven to the San Francisco Bay for release into cooler waters.
Low amounts of rain and snow led to less water and warmer temperatures in the state’s rivers and reservoirs, said Jason Julienne, who manages several state-run hatcheries in the Sacramento River system, including the Nimbus.
When those conditions occur, “we know we have to really go into high gear to make sure these fish survive”, said Harry Morse, spokesman for the California department of fish and wildlife.
The state plans to truck 17 million of the smolts to the San Francisco Bay, an emergency step not taken since the previous major drought, in 2014, Morse said.
On Monday, California governor Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for 41 of the state’s 58 counties, including the major watersheds relied on by salmon and other wildlife.
Droughts in California are growing more frequent and intense as climate change continues.
Other portions of the West Coast are also experiencing severe drought. In Oregon, federal officials said a portion of water from the Klamath River system would not be available to farmers and that additional protections for salmon and other fish were under consideration.
Even without drought and climate change, salmon and other fish were struggling to survive on the West Coast, as water projects such as dams and reservoirs inhibit their ability to migrate.
Two species of Chinook salmon are considered endangered on the West Coast and seven are considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In the American River where the Nimbus smolts are usually released, water from rain and snow was flowing at just 31% of its average rate, according to state data.
The resulting warmer water has created a desperate situation not only for the fish at the hatchery, but for the fry and eggs laid naturally in the rivers.
“My biggest fear is that every egg laid this year is going to die because the temperatures in the rivers are going to be too high,” said Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.